


As She Walks By

by RandomnessUnlimited



Category: Kaeloo (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Body Image, F/M, Jealousy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:34:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27028897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomnessUnlimited/pseuds/RandomnessUnlimited
Summary: Ursula comes to visit Smileyland, and she's just as perfect as Stumpy makes her out to be.
Relationships: Kaeloo/Mr. Cat, Stumpy/Ursula
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	As She Walks By

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, it's me, Random, and I'm back with another fanfic! This one is a collab between me and my friend @kaeloo_waifeee on Instagram, who is unfortunately not on AO3. We hope you like the story!

“Hey guys, hey guys! Guess what?” Stumpy asked, running towards where the rest of the main four were seated in the living room.

Mr. Cat, his nose in a newspaper, didn’t even bother to raise his head.

“Does it have anything to do with money?”

“Uh… no?”

“Then it’s not worth my time.”

Kaeloo grabbed the newspaper from his hands.

“Come on, Mr. Cat, let him talk!”

He didn't even retaliate and just sank back into his lounge chair.

“Okay. Go on,” he sighed, clearly irritated.

“Quack!”

“See? Even Duckface is busy! Froggy, be nice and give me back my newspaper.”

“STOP!” yelled the rodent. “THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT NEWS!”

Kaeloo sat down on the ground next to Mr. Cat, the newspaper still in her hands.

“Ursula is coming to visit us!”

The frog let out a long sigh. Sitting next to her, the cat flicked her forehead and looked at her questioningly.

“Are you okay?”

She forced a smile and vigorously nodded her head.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

She was fine. In fact, she was always fine!

Mr. Cat threw her a suspicious look, but didn’t pry any further than that. She dearly wished that he would have.

“When is she coming?” Kaeloo asked.

“In 20 minutes.”

“In WHAT?!”

Kaeloo cradled her head in her hands. 20 minutes. So many things to do and to plan. It would be far from perfect. Unshed tears began to prick at her eyes.

“For goodness’ sake, Stumpy, you should have told me earlier!” she cried.

Everyone stared at her, surprised by her voice cracking as she spoke. She cleared her throat.

“Let’s split the chores between us, buddies!”

The others glanced at each other and nodded their heads.

“Quack!” Quack Quack offered to cook.

“Not you, duckface!”

“Sorry, pal, but Ursula doesn’t like yogurt, and you’d put yogurt in everything! You’d totally screw it up!”

“Not ‘screw it up’, ‘mess it up’, Stumpy,” Kaeloo pointed out. “I’ll do the cooking, Quack Quack can clean the living room, and Mr. Cat can organize the shelves and clear the mess on the coffee table. We already cleaned the bathroom yesterday, so we don’t need to do anything about that.”

“What about me?” Stumpy asked.

“We don’t need you messing things up more than you already have, Stumpy,” Kaeloo snapped coldly. Needless to say, the others were somewhat taken aback by this considerably out-of-character remark, but nobody wanted to be the one to point out the obvious. Besides, it wasn’t the first time Kaeloo had said something cruel to Stumpy.

Unfortunately, since Stumpy had no work to do, he decided to take it upon himself to follow the others around and “encourage” them to work faster.

“YOU CAN’T JUST SIT AROUND, QUACK QUACK! LESS EATING AND MORE CLEANING!”

“COOK FASTER!”

“WHY IS THE COFFEE TABLE ONLY HALF-CLEAN?!”

The moment Kaeloo finished making the food, she ran to the bathroom and shut the door behind her, breathing a sigh of relief. She didn’t need to answer nature’s call, but she definitely did need a break right now. As much as she loved helping her friends, there were some things that were just too hectic to manage, even for her.

“Kaeloo! I need you back out here to clean under the couch in five minutes!” Stumpy yelled from outside, pounding on the door to accentuate his point.

“Of course!” she replied, her face forcing itself into a cheerful grin even though he couldn’t actually see her. Stumpy’s actions were certainly making her feel exhausted and she almost felt like she was being taken for granted, but it was her duty to ensure that her friends were happy and to do whatever it took to keep it that way. Besides, she understood why Stumpy is so stressed about everything being perfect; it wasn’t every day that Ursula came to visit Stumpy in person. And in addition to that, it was the first time she would actually be interacting with Kaeloo, Quack Quack, and Mr. Cat beyond the usual pleasantries.

“KAELOO! ARE YOU DONE YET?!” Stumpy screeched from outside, his grating voice echoing unpleasantly in her ears.

To stop herself from transforming, Kaeloo tried a tip from an anger management classes she’d once attended: picturing herself in the other person’s shoes. She tried to conjure up a scenario in her mind where she and Mr. Cat were in a long-distance relationship and he could only visit her once in a while, but soon realized that she couldn’t even begin to imagine such a thing. A reality where she could only see Mr. Cat in photos and video calls, where she couldn’t hug him or lean on his shoulder or anything like that. Her heart feels heavy just thinking about it. She instantly started to feel more grateful about the little things she could do with him every day, like eating meals and playing board games and watching TV…

Her little daydream was interrupted as the door to the bathroom swung open, and she realized in embarrassment that she had forgotten to lock it. Good thing she wasn’t actually using the bathroom for its intended purpose.

“Mr. Cat, haven’t you ever heard of knocking?” Kaeloo asked indignantly.

“You went to the bathroom just before nutcracker told us his girlfriend was coming. You couldn’t possibly need to use the bathroom that often, so I figured you were skipping your chores,” he remarked dryly as he shoved a pile of random knick-knacks into the bathroom closet in the hopes that Ursula wouldn’t open it. 

Kaeloo felt a twinge of embarrassment at being called out like that. She absolutely hated it when people called her out on her faults, but she hated it even more when the person in question turned out to be Mr. Cat. Immediately, she felt guilty for thinking like that. Mr. Cat was allowed to have his own opinions and criticize whomever he wanted, especially when it was someone as flawed as her. A little voice popped up in her head, mocking her for even imagining a scenario where she and Mr. Cat were in a relationship, and telling her that the only reason he could even tolerate being around her was that he had been forced into living with her to escape an abusive environment with nowhere else to go. Kaeloo tried to ignore the mean voice and think of something positive, but the voice drowned out all her other thoughts.

Mr. Cat was handsome. He had that kind of smirk which was mischievous, yet housed sweetness. His eyes glowed with a thousand different lights, and his face was perfectly harmonious. Kaeloo could always tell how he was feeling; when he raised an eyebrow, she could tell whether it was surprise, excitement, anger, or something else, even though it was the same gesture. Yes, Mr. Cat was handsome. Kaeloo couldn’t stop looking at him. His face reminded her of the sun. And that terrified her. The wave of feelings that took hold of her whenever she thought of him scared her. Because that living sun would never love her the way she loved him. How could he?

“Something wrong, froggy?” she snapped out of her little daymare to see Mr. Cat staring at her, his brows knit together and his mouth in a slight frown. He was attempting to look indifferent, but there was no way to hide his concern for her, and in fact, Kaeloo didn’t even notice that he was trying to appear nonchalant at all.

“I’m fine, Mr. Cat!” she declared hastily. “I’m just a little overwhelmed with all this work.”

Before Mr. Cat could say anything else, Stumpy hurriedly ran past the bathroom door, paused, and ran back to the bathroom door. Clearly, the stress was meddling with his already less-than-stellar thought process.

“YOU GUYS! SHE’S GOING TO BE HERE IN FIVE MINUTES!”

Kaeloo and Mr. Cat rushed to the living room and gathered with Quack Quack in front of the table, which was laid out with an array of cutlery and neatly arranged plates. As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Stumpy opened the door to reveal Ursula standing in front of it. The feline was wearing what appeared to be a designer dress. It wasn’t skin tight, but it did accentuate her most prominent features, making her appear even more pleasing to the eye. The dazzling white of the dress perfectly contrasted with her black fur. Her eyes sparkled with joy and the smile on her face exuded warmth. Looking her over, Kaeloo felt slightly insecure. Had Ursula always been this… beautiful?

“Hello, everyone! It’s so nice to meet you! I’m sorry we’ve never had the chance to be properly introduced before! The circumstances in which we met previously weren’t exactly appropriate for us to stop and chat…”

Her mellifluous voice only caused Kaeloo more pain; the frog’s mind began to flash back to the time she went on Voice Academy and was immediately eliminated from the contest by the judges. There was something to be said for Ursula’s excellent manners and pleasant demeanor as well. Stumpy and Ursula hugged and kissed - Mr. Cat and Quack Quack had the decency not to make fun of them at a time like this - and he held her hand to lead her to the dining table and introduce her to the others.

Mr. Cat couldn’t help but notice that Kaeloo still looked unwell.

“Froggy, you’ve been acting weird all morning. Are you sure nothing’s wrong?” he asked.

“It’s just the cold,” she explained, since they were outside. In a sudden gesture, Mr. Cat pulled her towards him and gently held her.

“Let me warm you up,” he said in a joking tone, but they both knew that the real reason he did it was to make her feel happy. And it worked.


End file.
